Are you working on a video or thinking of creating some video content? Now is the perfect time to start planning where your videos will live, who the audience is and what size and shape your videos should be. These days you have hundreds of options for where your videos should live. At One Floor Up we work with our clients to craft the perfect message for each destination. Sometimes that means making a few videos, other times it just means we plan ahead and create cut-downs from one video. 

Video length and sound are two variables to think through when planning your video strategy. This all depends on how you are capturing your audience’s attention. When you have your audience held captive, let’s say at a conference or presentation you can play a longer video than if you are placing a video on social media where someone may just scroll by for a few seconds.There is more than meets the eye when it comes to digital marketing so we’ve put together a one-stop shop just for you no matter where you want to place your video.

Video for Digital Marketing:

•      True View Ads
  • Length: 15- 30 seconds
  • Tips & Tricks for Success:You can use sound, show your message in the first 5-10 seconds as most ads are skipped before the 15second mark.

•      Bumper Ads
  • Length: 6 seconds
  • Tips & Tricks for Success: Show your message and brand right away. Get creative… think of these as a part or teaser to a larger campaign.

•      YouTube/Vimeo Channel
  • Length: Any
  • Tips & Tricks for Success: If someone is on your YouTube or Vimeo channel they are researching your brand and looking to understand who you are and what you do. These videos should be optimized from an SEO perspective. Upload a transcript along with your video, and craft a detailed description. This will help your video show up in the appropriate search results. These videos will help you rank higher and if cataloged the right way it will get your content in front of the right audience.

•      Video in an Email Newsletter
  • Length: 30-90 seconds
  • Tips & Tricks for Success: If you have someone’s email address they will already know who you are and what you do and will welcome a message from you. Ideally keep the message around that 30 second mark. When people are opening emails they are often multi-tasking and could lose interest.  Think of it like stopping by your neighbors uninvited. A quick hello is okay, but if you linger they might not want to let you in next time.

    

•      Video On your Website
  • Length: 15-60 seconds
  • Tips & Tricks for Success: Congrats, someone is on your website! Guess what? People hate reading, so videos are a great way to do your pitch in an engaging and creative way. No matter what your pitch, make sure you end your video with a call to action!  Click here for an example

•      Video on Instagram
  • Length: 5-15 seconds
  • Tips & Tricks for Success: Instagram has a five second minimum for a video, but we think a sweet spot is around 8 seconds. People are scrolling through Instagram, so you want to make a relatable and creative video. Do not rely on sound, use text and graphics to get your message across.   Cool Example

•      Video on Facebook
  • Length: 5-60 seconds
  • Tips & Tricks for Success: Keep your video under a minute for Facebook. You are going to be up against scrollers, and you have to make your video engaging in the first 5 seconds if you want to capture your audience’s attention. Do not rely on sound, use text and graphics. Many times people are scrolling through at work or in bed and need to be quiet while they learn about how great and cool you are.

    

•      Video at a Conference
  • Length: Under 7 Minutes (unless you have a cool doc style video)
  • Tips & Tricks for Success: Congrats! You have a captive audience. You can show them your video and they have to watch. It’s rude for them not to! It’s also rude if you end up boring them. Time is precious, make sure you entertain and impress your crowd. Get them excited about the things you have done and the things you are about to do. End with a powerful statement and call to action. Click here to see a video we made for a keynote presentation for a live event.

•      Video for TV Commercials
  • Length: Whatever you purchased ~30 seconds ~60 seconds
  • Tips & Tricks for Success: Video for TV is a great way to reach your audience. You are popping up between high quality productions, so it is important to have a professionally made commercial. You don’t want to be like one of those cheesy auto commercials with the bad sound and weird graphics. Let a production company like One Floor Up concept, script and shoot your commercial.  Cool Example

•      Video for OTT
  • Length: 30-90 seconds
  • Tips & Tricks for Success: OTT is still in its infancy, but it’s something to start thinking about and trying to your video strategy. OTT means Over The Top and it is all about placing ads on streaming services such as Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast and other internet connected TV. The cool thing about this is Ads are usually not skippable. Also these shows are often consumed on tablets and phones, so your audience cannot multi-task and scroll through social media while your ads are showing. Just like with Digital Marketing you can target a very specific audience and receive very specific reporting on your dollars spent. Cool Example

•      Video for Internal Communications
  • Length: 30-90 seconds
  • Tips & Tricks for Success: Video for internal communications often times live on internal networks and corporate social portals. It is important to have a polished message that is clear and concise. It is important to understand your audience and identify what kind of message will resonate best. If you are explaining a bunch of recent layoffs you probably want a C-Level executive reassuring people and keeping the message short and sweet. If you are walking your company through a new technology launch or explaining new processes graphic videos can be really useful. Don’t forget, your employees are your brand ambassadors. Sending out low quality video, just because it’s internal, isn’t crafting the best message (and mindset) for your brand ambassadors.

    

•      Video for Sales Presentations
  • Length: 30-90 seconds
  • Tips & Tricks for Success: You have a captive audience, you are closing out your sales pitch and now you really need to seal the deal. Let a production company like One Floor Up help you create a sizzle reel showing all of the latest and greatest things your company has done, along with the cool and relatable people that work there. Close out with a happy customer and some cool graphics and you landed the deal!  People buy things from people they like and trust, you just kicked ass in your sales presentation and have built the social capital you need to make a deal – keep the momentum going, sell your customer on your company culture and the amazing people behind your products. Click here for an example of a video we created for Gogo Communications

•      Video for Donations or Membership
  • Length: 30-180 seconds
  • Tips & Tricks for Success: You have a captive audience you are now asking for people’s time or people’s money. The only way to do that successfully is by telling them a story and showing them how their dollars and energy are going to make a big impact on the project ahead. This is a great opportunity to tell an emotional story – who did you help, or who will be helped by the new donations? Tears drive donations. Make sure you have a beginning and end to your story with a strong call to action. Click here for a fund-raising video we created for a non-profit